Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542 - 1587. Reigned 1542 - 1567

Mary I of Scotland, known as Mary, Queen of Scots, was sent to France in 1548, for her safekeeping. Raised and educated at court, she later married the Dauphin, the heir to the French throne, who became François II. François died in 1560 and in 1561, Mary returned to Scotland where she ruled for only six years. Following a rebellion, she was forced to abdicate and fled to England. Mary was retained and held captive for nearly twenty years before being executed in 1587, for plotting to murder her cousin, Elizabeth I.

This portrait was not painted from life but is a version after a sixteenth-century portrait of Mary. The original portrait was probably commissioned by one of her supporters. The date 1578, in the inscription on the top left, marked the ten years that she had been held in captivity. The remainder of the inscription reminds us of Mary’s lineage, and the crucifixes reiterate her piety. One crucifix shows the biblical story of Susanna and the Elders, in which an innocent woman was saved from being put to death.

Credit: Purchased 1925